Rise of Xavia

by Tara Chau

  My head begins spinning, my lungs are screaming for air. I am too.

  I'm screaming, not bothering to cover my mouth anymore. Everyone has to know…everyone has to get away!

  Jess scrambles towards me, slapping her hand over my mouth. She cries out but holds her hand still.

  “She’s freezing,” she gasps. "Pass me that!" she yells. I think she's pointing at a shirt or something. I'm still staring at Helen.

  Jess removes her hand for a split second before re-applying it over my screaming mouth. There is some kind of material over her hand, muffling my cries further.

  “What is happening?” Anne spits.

  “Let me,” Helen says quietly, sadly.

  She slowly crawls towards me. My body kicks into action. I start to thrash pugnaciously, hurling my limbs in all directions. It's all I can do to keep the dead away.

  “Hold her,” she demands.

  Anne appears by my side, pulling on woollen gloves before gripping both of my arms, pinning them to the ground.

  “Still,” she says soothingly. "Stay still, Di. We'll make it better."

  “Getaway,” I shriek. Jess's eyes widen.

  She’s the only one who hears me because of her hand over my mouth.

  I try again but fail; my voice doesn't sound the same. It's… hollow. Attempting to speak again, I can’t manage to get another word out because of my diminishing supply of oxygen. With all of my limbs secured, Death approaches.

  “No-no-no,” I manage to screech.

  I frantically try to escape their clutches as Helen extends her hand towards my forehead. She takes three of her rotting fingers and presses them firmly against my head. I can feel the open flesh and coagulated blood against my skin. Her nails dig into my own face. I have the sickening feeling of whatever disease she possesses being transferred into me.

  The ice in my veins starts to melt, water fills my insides, giving me an extreme and dangerous urge to vomit. My stomach seems to be filling with fluids, making me scream, but to my own ears, I simply sound as if I am drowning. The ice melts into my bloodstream, the frost in my lungs also turning into water. I'm drowning in my own body.

  Suddenly, the water seems to be flushed out, leaving me gasping for air and desperate for any heat. The remaining burning cold is transferred back down into my fingers, making them throb and spasm in agony. The white scorching pain starts to slowly ebb away.

  Frozen.

  Death.

  Falling.

  Black.

  Light.

  As if I’m waking from some kind of nightmare, I forget where I am for a few moments. That is until I take in the three worried looks on my friends' faces. They all watch me carefully, surveying me warily.

  My breathing starts to calm into its usual constant beating, making my body relax. I can still feel the phantom ice in my veins, surging through me, turning me to stone, petrified.

  I attempt a small, shy smile, uncurling myself and sitting with my legs crossed. They all sigh in relief, Jess and Anne shaking slightly.

  “Do you want to tell us what just happened, Helen?” Anne snaps.

  “Honestly, I have no idea,” Helen admits calmly.

  “I-I do,” I respond hesitantly, my voice hoarse from the screaming.

  The three of them look to me, confused and wide-eyed. Somehow during the short time that I had blacked out, all the answers came flooding into my frozen mind.

  “The one of the roses, the holder of moons,” I say simply, pointing at first to myself, then to Helena.

  By the way, they still all look completely confused. I can tell that it's gonna take further explanation. "We're destined to stop each other. Obviously, I set something off when I made contact with her. It was something inside her protecting her from me, the person who is supposed to destroy her. Self-defence. It should only happen when she's caught off guard when I actually have a chance to…."

  “Kill me,” she finishes ruthlessly.

  I nod solemnly, not denying what is so obvious. Yes, at some point, one of us will die by the others hand. I hurl myself away and out of the tent, spewing out cold brown water, tinged with blood.

  Ty and Hayden look at us in shocked, slash, pitying expressions, Ty looking between his girlfriend and me.

  “So, you're telling me that when you touched her, you…froze?" Ty clarifies.

  Nodding my head slowly, I speak. "It felt like my blood was freezing water like my insides were turning to stone,” I say, recalling the haunted feeling.

  “Spooky,” Hayden says, his expression torn between amazed and confused.

  “Why are you so insensitive?” Anne snaps.

  Hayden shrugs and continues eating his breakfast. All of our meals consist of instant milk and cornflakes. We’re sitting on the only patch of grass that’s not overrun by ants, a way off from our class. The last thing we need right now is for someone from our class, overhearing one of our supernatural conversations. Us four girls had already gotten some strange looks today, politely trying to ignore the concerned questions about this morning and my cries.

  "So, what do we do?" Anne asks.

  "I-I don't know. I guess we gotta just be really careful, maybe make some rules?" Jess and Anne nod in agreement, silently urging Ty to continue. “First off, Di and Helen can’t be alone without someone else separating the two, and no physical contact either,” Ty says sternly.

  "Agreed, and if any more come to mind, just tell me,” Helen says, suddenly very interested in the dry grass. Another moment passes before she opens her mouth to speak again. "Hey, listen, Di, I think that Ty was right. We shouldn't be friends; I should have just stayed away. I'm sorry."

  After all the original shock passes, I realised that it was not her fault. She has no control over her fate, neither do I. So, when I reply, I am fully confident with my words.

  “What happened to ‘screw Ty’?” I ask, remembering the time she came to ask if we could still be friends.

  “You said that, not me,” she stabs, earning me a scowl from Ty.

  I want to keep trying to convince her that being friends is still okay, but flashes of death come flooding back. I try not to wince as I wait for the images to fade again. Looking back at her sad face, I can’t believe that someone so lovely can be… that, can be Death.

  Eventually, the conversation fades, and I stand, picking up my empty breakfast dishes.

  “Where are you going?” Anne asks worriedly.

  “To wash my bowl before the water becomes gross,” I say, trying to put on a smile.

  “I’ll come; I’m done too,” she says, jumping up and walking beside me.

  We walk over to the main sitting area and walk around to the side of the tent, three washing tubs waiting for our unwashed dishes.

  “What aren’t you telling us, Dianna Reeds?” she asks suspiciously.

  I shake my head as I crouch down to the ground.

  "Di…" Anne pushes as I dunk my dishes into the rinsing water. "Hey, we've all been through some tough things lately, you the most. I understand that you must have a lot of big feelings right now. You can tell me if anything is wrong."

  “Nothing’s wrong,” I lie, for some reason refusing to tell her about Helen being Death.

  “Bull poop,” she says, smashing her bowl into the tub that I just finished using. “Spill those big feelings.”

  “If you don’t drop it, then you’re about to get a big feeling in the side of your head,” I snap, drying my things.

  Stalking back to the tent, I chuck my stuff onto my mat and walk over to where Georgia is eating with the rest of the teachers and guides.

  “Do you mind if I go on a quick walk? I think I saw a pretty flower bush a few minutes that way. I'd like to make a fast sketch of it." it's not completely untrue. There is a nice flower over there somewhere.

  “Sure, just be back with a day pack within twenty minutes. Meeting in front of the fire pit,” she responds sweet
ly, seeing my watery eyes.

  Nodding my silent thanks, I take off to the cluster of pine trees on the horizon.

  I want to remain friends with Helen, but I can’t even get the images of her other side out of my head. I can’t forget about what she might become, what she will become. I don’t know why I can’t tell them about Death.

  I should be able to explain it all to them. What am I afraid of? What's stopping me? Maybe it's the thought of what might happen to Helen if I do, if the only friends she has, are no longer there. How can her fate be so sadistic? How can Helena become something like that? It's at this point where I stop, a blinding realisation smashing a hole in my mind.

  It's not Helen who's destined to destroy us - it's Death. Helen and Death may as well be two completely different people! The moon on her head is the only thing anchoring Death to her body. Death is the holder of moons; she's something living inside Helen. But it's dormant, still there, but not here… yet. The prophecy tells us that something is going to take control of her once she comes of age. It's Death. Receiving the mark was only the first step. That's what allows her to enter. Now it’s just waiting for her to become stronger… and for the right time. I have no idea what this thing is, it looks like something from hell, so I call it Death, but it could just be another demon. Though what kind of demon can possess and control a human? One so old that it’s been forgotten. Of course, Helen would never willingly destroy everything; she'll cringe when someone steps on an ant. She’s the nicest person in this world. I have to tell someone. Ty. He needs to know. Helena isn't the destroyer; her other side is - Death is.

  Spinning around, I rush back to the camp, searching for Ty. My gaze falls upon him. He's walking towards the boy's camp sight. I break into a run, not an abnormally fast one, but fast enough that I do need to use extra help from my other side. Skidding to a stop inches away from Ty’s back, I make a mental note to learn how to stop on time. Ty turns in confusion, fists raised in instinct.

  “Gods, can you not? I thought”

  “I know, I know,” I cut off. "But I need to tell you something extremely important, Ty."

  He nods, and I can tell that he's braced for the worst.

  “Helen, she’s Death,” I spit.

  Ty looks like I just slapped him. I realise that that probably sounded bad to him, as he doesn't know how I came to that conclusion.

  “Di-”

  “That sounded wrong,” I say quickly. “What I meant was, she is Death. As in, Helen herself is not the destroyer. It's what's inside her."

  Ty looks at me for a while before he starts to laugh nervously. I heave a sigh and grab his shoulders fiercely. "When she came out of the fire, she had the moon's mark. That is the only thing twining her to what is inside her, Death. The prophecy's written like something is going to enter her like it planned all these things. She's not going to turn on her own. She's going to be commanded too. By Death… by a demon,” I explain.

  Ty’s breathing becomes shallow, and I tighten my grip. "You gotta believe me. Trust me, I saw it. I saw what Helen's going to become; I saw the demon that's inside her."

  “H-how?” he stammers.

  “When I touched her, I was overcome by fear and coldness and pain. I looked to my friends, to Anne and Jess, then to Helen, but she wasn’t there. She was some evil demonic thing, something that laughed as I screamed, something that Helen could never be.”

  I can see Ty trying to process all of this. I can see everything clicking into place inside his mind.

  “How did you even think of that?” he asks.

  “It all just seemed to… connect,” I say, not really knowing myself.

  "But, what now?" he questions. I look at Ty, his troubled eyes staring back at me.

  “I’m not sure. But at least now, we know that we can stop her, Death that is,” I clarify.

  Ty smiles thankfully at me, pulling me into a tight hug. “You really are going to save our world. Dianna Reeds, the saviour.”

  Warm pride flows through me. Out of everyone who could have said that to me, Ty is the last person I expect.

  "We'll worry about that a little bit later. Right now, our job is to find and stop the Xavia and Lucien,” Ty reminds, pulling back.

  “I agree,” I say, nodding in confirmation.

  “First though, we enjoy the rest of our camp,” he says quickly.

  I groan loudly and roll my eyes, turning back to walk back to the tent. As I approach, I see Anne is also packing her day bag. Oh shit, what's she gonna say to me after I snapped at her like that? I come to stand outside the open tent door. She pops her head out.

  "Finished your little meltdown?" she asks calmly, not a trace of anger insight.

  “Yes,” I say quietly. “You’re not mad?”

  “Did you not listen to anything that I said to you? I said that I understand, I understand everything,” she says. Unfortunately, that’s not true.

  “No,” I admit, “I kind of tuned out once you said bull poop. After that, it's all a mess."

  Anne smiles as she recalls her substitute swear word.

  “Ty would be proud of me for that one,” she says, grinning.

  “Ah yes, because he ‘frowns upon swearing’. Doesn’t he?”

  Anne laughs softly and stumbles out of the tent, quickly dodging the puddle of mess left behind from me due to this morning's events.

  I give her a tight hug, letting out a relieved sigh.

  "I promise that I'll explain everything to you later. We just have to wait till there's no one else around when it's just you, Jess, and me." We pull out of the hug, and she nods thankfully.

  “Alright,” she agrees.

  I crawl into the tent and grab my small backpack, stuffing in a spare jumper, water bottle, and cap. Zipping it up, I jump back out, dodging my mess and smashing right into Helen.

  A violent shudder rips through me. I cringe as another flash of Death comes and goes. I take a step away from Helen, smiling sadly. She doesn't smile back but nods and goes into the tent herself.

  “Well, that was awkward,” Anne comments.

  Rolling my eyes, I swing my bag at her. Anne laughs and easily dodges.

  “Come on, people are already starting to gather,” I say, marching towards the main gathering area.

  We meet up with Jess, Ty, and Hayden, waiting for Helen to come before we walk over to join the main class. As we sit listening to the guides explain what's going to happen today, I take note of the fact that Anne, Hayden, and Ty are sitting between Helen and me.

  There is going to be a hike up to the top of a mountain. Then from there, we're going to go rock climbing. After that, we are coming back down to have a session of archery. I practically jump when they add archery to the activities, excited to finally do something familiar.

  “Everyone, fill your bottles, go to the toilet and make sure that you have everything,” Speaks the other guide, Tiffaney.

  Our class disassembles and walks off in different directions, leaving the six of us by ourselves.

  “We should be relieved that Gabe isn’t here,” Ty comments.

  “Why?” I ask, unable to hide my undertone of annoyance.

  Ty smiles at that before explaining. “Because he would completely dominate this whole class in archery.”

  A sly grin spreads across my face. "Just because Gabe's not here doesn't mean you're not gonna be dominated. I'm gonna smash all of you."

  “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who’s been training for the shortest amount of time, and you think you can beat all of us?” Hayden asks, eyebrows lifted.

  “Sure do,” I say proudly.

  While Gabe was missing, I trained eight hours a day, developing my skills with all kinds of weapons and different fighting techniques.

  I found more pleasure in sword fighting and archery, so I allowed myself more time to practice those skills than the others, but only a little bit. By the time Anne and I found Gabe, I was
getting three exact bull’s eyes out of five, plus, my arrow could find those bulls eyes from twenty-five metres away. Not as good as Gabe, who never misses, even when shooting from forty or fifty metres away, but better than most.

  The practice bows in the training hall only shoot about thirty metres; Gabe’s parents had given him a special bow that can shoot up to seventy metres.

  Ten minutes later, we're all hiking up the path to rock climbing. The path is flat for a little while, everyone watching where they step carefully, not wanting to twist an ankle on the gravel road. We all chatter happily, Helen marvelling at the flowers decorating the side of the path, Hayden and Ty betting on who would win next game night.

  Jess, Anne, and I walk a bit quicker than the rest of them, me quietly explaining everything I know about Helen and Death. After I finish talking, I wait patiently for Anne or Jess to snap out of their confused comas.

  “Um, wow?” Anne tries.

  I simply shrug, not sure of how I should react.

  “Wait, you told Ty before us?” she asks.

  “That’s what you gathered from this?” Jess asks, speaking for the first time in ten minutes.

  “No, I’m just waiting for my mind to catch up with all the good and bad things that could come with this. Then I’ll start to freak out,” she explains calmly.

  “As I said, we’re not going to worry about this right now. We have to focus on stopping Xavia and Lucien,” I say sternly.

  We stop talking as we gawk at the huge mountain the path leads up.

  My muscles ache as I stumble up the rocks, grabbing onto the closest steady tree, trying desperately to regain my balance. My breath is quick and shallow. Head-spinning, I stand aside and let a few people pass. Taking a shaky breath in, I start to walk again, gripping my bag straps, focusing on steadying my breaths. Ty and the rest of them are about five people in front of me, not slowing, but no speaking either. My feet scream each time I take another step, becoming heavier and heavier with each passing minute. My back aches from carrying around two litres of water for the past hour, my neck strained from watching the ground the entire time. My heart is beating double time, my lungs trying to cycle enough oxygen around my body. Trying to take my mind off the throbbing pain in my body, I look around at the green trees and blue skies, trying to imagine how I would draw such a sight.